


To Find A Real Princess

by DesertVixen



Category: Prinsessen paa Ærten | The Princess and the Pea - Hans Christian Andersen
Genre: Everwhere Things Went Wrong, F/M, Quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 09:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18797926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: "And everywhere, things went wrong..."The Prince from the Princess and the Pea on his travels...





	To Find A Real Princess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morbane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbane/gifts).



Prince Leo had never been so glad to see an inn in his life. He very nearly hadn’t survived his latest adventure to see anything ever again. 

On top of everything else, it was raining and cold. The prospect of sitting before a blazing fire and drinking enough ale to fill a small lake was very appealing. 

The inn was like an answer to a prayer. He had almost missed it in the dark, and it appeared to be the only thing on the desolate road. Leo thought the sign – a black lion standing on its hind legs – was a good sign, given his name. 

Leo had not thought that finding a suitable princess, a real princess, would be quite so difficult. After all, he was a prince. Perhaps he was not the most handsome prince in the world, but he wasn’t as ugly as some that he had seen. (Not to mention the large number of unattractive kings, who had presumably met and married princesses of their very own at some point.) He was young and tall and strong, with black hair and green eyes – and during his time on the road, he was only getting stronger. He considered himself to be pleasant-natured, and he had certainly met some with worse manners than his own.

Admittedly their kingdom was small and not-rich, but it was not-poor either. It was their kingdom, with its own beauties and riches, and they were beholden to no one. 

And he was pretty sure that the legend about the curse had finally died out.

He had never believed in it anyway. 

Yet everywhere he went, things went wrong.

***

He had met many princesses, but none of them felt suitable or right. Some of them had been nice enough girls, but Leo felt that he would know in his heart when he met a real princess, his real princess. He did not think he was being overly picky, but he also did not think it was too much to ask for a princess who wouldn’t try to kill him in his sleep, like the last one he had escaped. 

It wasn’t even really her fault – she didn’t know she was turning into a man-eating tiger every night. Leo had only escaped in one piece because he had been unable to sleep, and had decided to sit in the window seat and enjoy the night air. He had been able to knock the tiger out, and he had been quite surprised as the once-snarling beast turned into an unconscious young princess. 

Leo had not waited for her to come around, but he had left her a note. He felt she should know, especially since someone else clearly knew about the issue – hence why all the suitors who were placed in the room kept…disappearing. It sounded like some sort of curse, and not for the first time, Leo wondered why people kept going around and cursing young girls. It seemed rather unfair.

He had discovered that there were a great many cursed princesses. Some of them were mild curses, like the princess who could only speak in rhyme. Some of them were not, like the deserted castle he had found, covered in brambles and roses, with everyone having fallen asleep where they stood. Leo had actually searched for the princess and attempted to wake her with a kiss, but nothing had happened. Looking on the bright side, he supposed the fact that nothing had happened was okay – after all, he could have joined the castle in their unending sleep. She had clearly been a princess, but not the princess for him.

Even when they weren’t cursed, some of them were just not very pleasant. He’d met spoiled brats and schemers, but not one princess he wanted to make his queen. He had met some very nice not-princesses, but he needed a princess.

Leo might not believe in their kingdom’s legendary curse, but his parents did. 

According to his history tutor, their kingdom had never been incredibly prosperous, but it had been respectfully wealthy. It wasn’t until his father had chosen to marry the young woman he loved – a woman from a noble family, but not the pinch-faced princess with plush pockets he was supposed to marry – that their fortunes had turned. His tutor had pointed out that there had been a five-year drought that struck soon after the wedding, one that would impact crops for years to come, and that there were many factors that could explain the situation, and that believing in curses was superstitious and not-modern.

Leo tended to agree with his tutor, although he intended to inform that good man that there were, indeed, curses out there – and possibly show him the claw marks from the tiger.

His mother had found a book in their castle library that talked about the first king of their land, who had threatened his sons that tragedy would befall the kingdom if they failed to marry real, true princesses. She certainly believed it, believed that her choice to marry the man she loved had brought all of these things upon their land. Mere facts could not disrupt that belief. She would not see her son marry someone who was not a real princess.

Leo sighed, then put curses and princesses out of his mind as he entered the inn. The innkeeper, observing that although his fine clothes were a little worse for the wear that Leo was a young man of means, came forward at once to usher him to a place by the fire. Soon enough, he had a mug of ale and was warming up nicely.

He had been sitting there for some time before he realized that he was not entirely alone. A young woman with long dark hair sat in another chair, huddled in a cloak and staring at the fire. 

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but surely there was no way a princess, a real princess, would be found in a roadside inn.

Yet when the innkeeper brought his dinner, Leo found himself inviting the young woman – Helena, she told him – to share it with him, found himself telling her his story.

“It’s not much easier being a princess,” she said when he had finished. “One has to deal with all of those young men, and princesses aren’t exactly free to go seek their fortune. My sisters have sadly learned that one.”

“Your sisters?” Leo felt his heart beat faster. 

“My half-sisters.” She shrugged. “Our father the king has been good to me, but I could not stay in the court and wait on my sisters forever. At least I have that small freedom.”

 _If her father is a king,_ he thought, _then surely she is a princess._

As they laughed and talked, he wanted her very much to be his princess. His queen. 

***

Leo stayed at the inn for two days longer than he had planned. At the end of the second night, they walked under a starry sky, and he told her that he loved her. Then, he told her of his dilemma.

Helena laughed, then kissed him. “Do you think your mother would accept that I am a princess?”

“I think she would try to test you. She truly believes that her not being a princess is the cause of all my kingdom’s troubles.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps I have something that can help.” 

Leo watched as she reached into a pocket in the lining of her cloak, and took out a small green velvet pouch. Inside was a pea.

She saw him looking at it in disbelief, and laughed. “It is no ordinary pea. It is enchanted. Here is what you must do…”

They made their plans that night, and in the morning Leo set out for home.

He knew Helena would be arriving shortly.

His real princess.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I very much liked your prompts, and tried to do a few of them justice in this one.


End file.
